The winners of CODE’s fourth annual Burt Award for Caribbean Literature, which recognizes outstanding writing for young adults by Caribbean authors, are:
Viviana Prado-Núñez (Puerto Rico/USA) — first prize of $10,000 CAD for her self-published novel, The Art of White Roses.
Kevin Jared Hosein (Trinidad & Tobago) — second prize of $7000 CAD for his unpublished novel The Beast of Kukuyo
Lisa Allen-Agostini (Trinidad & Tobago) — third prize of $5000 CAD for her unpublished novel Waiting for the Bus.
The winners were selected by a jury administered by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest and announced at the festival’s opening night celebration on April 26 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
CODE will facilitate the publication of the winning titles by Caribbean publishers and purchase up to 2500 copies of each. These books will be donated to schools, libraries, and community organizations across the region through CODE’s network of local partners. To date, CODE has distributed more than 22,000 award-winning books to readers in eleven Caribbean countries.
The Burt Award for Caribbean Literature is a global readership initiative established by CODE with the generous support of Canadian philanthropist William (Bill) Burt and the Literary Prizes Foundation. Established in Tanzania in 2008, the award is now offered in the Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Canada, and the Caribbean.